The comedy "Oconomowoc," the feature-film debut of Lawrence University graduate Andy Gillies, has its first Milwaukee-area showings at four theaters in the next two weeks.

Filmed in the title western Waukesha County community, "Oconomowoc" centers on a twentysomething, played by fellow Lawrence alumnus Brendan Marshall-Rashid, who moves back home with his mother and stepfather and agrees to help a friend rebuild his mishandled T-shirt business. | April 21, 2013»Read Full Article(3)

Inspired by a classic photograph, "Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932" is best when it focuses on figures in the background.

First, the photograph: Prolific novelist Francine Prose saw in an exhibit the Brassai photograph "Lesbian Couple at Le Monocle, 1932." In it, two women are sitting at a nightclub table — one of them gazing off, wearing an evening gown and a 1930s wave in her hair; the other, in a man's suit and tie, embracing her in an almost possessive fashion. | April 25, 2014»Read Full Article

Three years after publishing the Pulitzer-Prize winning "Lonesome Dove" (1985), a bemused Larry McMurtry wondered whether his readers had missed the point, while suggesting that many cowboys are "twisted, fascistic and dumb."

As he'd later make clear in "Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen" (1999), McMurtry intended "Lonesome Dove" as a takedown of the romanticized Western myths that exercise such a strong and detrimental influence on the American mind. | April 25, 2014»Read Full Article

Born in Montreal, Singh Baldwin has a significant reputation on the Canadian side of the border. Her novel "The Tiger Claw" was shortlisted in 2004 for the Giller Prize, Canada's top fiction honor. She's one of three jurors who will pick this year's Giller winner. | April 25, 2014»Read Full Article

Independence and stability. Those sound like fairly simple goals. But for the homeless and for people suffering from mental and physical challenges or substance abuse problems, achieving those goals can be monumental. But supporters of the Guest House say their organization is quietly helping the homeless and disabled reach those milestones. More than 150 of those boosters were at the Guest House's "Wine Not" event to help the homeless held March 26 at Pier Wisconsin's Pilot House.

In operation for more than 30 years on Milwaukee's near north side, Guest House hosts 86 men every night in its emergency shelter and transitional housing program and provides case management to more than 300 individuals and families living in apartments throughout the city. About 20% of its program participants are veterans. Its services include an employment readiness program, counseling services and its Cream City Gardens program, which provides homegrown produce for Guest House as well as local food pantries while providing job training in urban farming. The shelter is in the process of completing a capital campaign that will enable it to expand at its 100-year-old location, a former church. While additional beds are not part of that plan, the funds will allow Guest House to renovate its kitchen and have a dedicated space to conduct its educational programs that provide classes in areas such as financial literacy, health and wellness, life skills and responsible fatherhood. | April 25, 2014»Read Full Article

What was it in Bessie Harvey that inspired her to look at a twig on the ground and see a person? She took something broken and dead, a root or branch that once gave life, and created "Pregnant Woman." The figure's teeth, made from rows of tiny beads, are awkward and a little fierce, and her dime-store eyes seem to follow me like the Mona Lisa.

What's most remarkable about this figure, though, is the confident, all-too-human sway that surfaces from that old stick. | April 25, 2014»Read Full Article(11)

Perhaps it's time to change the old adage from "two many cooks spoil the broth" to "lots of cooks make a great buffet."

The Danceworks Performance Company presented an absolute feast of collaborations Thursday evening, opening "Plugged In," the final series of performances in a season of creative collaborations with a wildly creative, thoroughly entertaining evening of music and dance. | April 25, 2014»Read Full Article

The Best of Brew City is your mobile guide to going out in Milwaukee. Locate events, live music, bars and restaurants near you and in Milwaukee's most popular neighborhoods. Visit bestofbrewcity.com and download the app for iOS or Android today.

Rapper Schoolboy Q talked about his favorite artists and other topics for a 10 for Tap video interview, before his sold-out Rave show April 17. Associated Press photo by Darren Abate.| April 25, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

Watching the Milwaukee Brewers chew up all those opposing teams can make a baseball fan hungry, and not just for the post-season. What's good to eat at Miller Park these days, anyway?

I went concession-stand hopping at the ballpark to try some new offerings and to see how some longer-standing foodstuffs were holding up. You'll find a mix of the straightforward and the State Fair-esque to sustain you, in addition to the cheese curds, hot pretzels, peanuts, fruit cups, ice cream... | April 25, 2014»Read Full Article(15)